Late Pleistocene Environments of the Central Ukraine

The Vyazivok loess sequence from the Dnieper Plain, Ukraine, documents regional environmental changes during the late Pleistocene and Holocene. Pedological and palynological analyses and low-field magnetic susceptibility document changes from dense temperate forest during the last interglacial maximum to open, harsh, loess–steppe during the latest Pleistocene. The Vyazivok section overlies hillwash derived from a lower Pleistocene terrace and consists of two stratified soil complexes (Kaydaky and Pryluky; marine isotope stage [MIS] 5 equivalent) separated by a layer of eolian dust (Tyasmyn silt). The lower soils in both complexes formed within forest. These soils are overlain by the Uday (MIS4) and Bug (MIS2) loess units, which are separated by boreal soils of the Vytachiv (MIS3) complex. The coldest conditions within the record occurred in the youngest loess. Holocene soils cap the Bug loess. The Vyazivok section shows remarkable similarities with other classical loess sequences in western Europe, the Czech Republic, and Austria. The Kaydaky, Pryluky, and Vytachiv deposits, correlate with the PKIII, PKII, and PKI soil complexes, respectively, of the Czech Republic. The Tyasmyn and Prylyky silt layers correspond to marker horizons from central Europe.     

Fossil Coals (Gagates) from Pleistocene Sediments in Black Sea Terraces,Southeastern Crimea

Lithology and Mineral Resources - The marine Quaternary (Chaudian) terrace V in the outskirts of Sudak accommodates layers saturated with lenses and fragments of fossil coal scrutinized by the...     

Late Pleistocene paleoecology of arctic ground squirrel (Urocitellus parryii) caches and nests from Interior Alaska's mammoth steppe ecosystem, USA

Botanical analyses of fossil and modern arctic ground squirrel (Urocitellus parryii) caches and nests have been used to reconstruct the past vegetation from some parts of Beringia, but such archives are understudied in Alaska. Five modern and four fossil samples from arctic ground squirrel caches and nests provide information on late Pleistocene vegetation in Eastern Beringia. Modern arctic ground squirrel caches from Alaska's arctic tundra were dominated by willow and grass leaves and grass seeds and bearberries, which were widespread in the local vegetation as confirmed by vegetation surveys. Late Pleistocene caches from Interior Alaska were primarily composed of steppe and dry tundra graminoid and herb seeds. Graminoid cuticle analysis of fossil leaves identified Calamagrostis canadensis, Koeleria sp. and Carex albonigra as being common in the fossil samples. Stable carbon isotopes analysis of these graminoid specimens indicated that plants using the C₃ photosynthetic pathways were present and functioning with medium to high water-use efficiency. Fossil plant taxa and environments from ground squirrel caches in Alaska are similar to other macrofossil assemblages from the Yukon Territory, which supports the existence of a widespread mammoth steppe ecosystem type in Eastern Beringia that persisted throughout much of the late Pleistocene.     

Late Pleistocene mammoth remains from Coastal Maine, USA

Remains identified as those of a woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) dated at 12,200 ± 55 ¹⁴C yr B.P. were recovered while excavating in a complex sequence of glaciomarine sediments in Scarborough, Maine, USA. The mammoth was found in the top meter of a fossiliferous unit of mud and sand laminites. These sediments were deposited during a marine regressive phase following the transgression that accompanied northward retreat of the margin of the Laurentide ice sheet. A Portlandia arctica valve from the underlying transgressive unit provides a minimum age of 14,820 ± 105 ¹⁴C yr B.P. for local deglaciation. The mammoth, an adult female, died in midwinter with no evidence of human involvement. Tusk growth rates and oxygen-isotope variation over the last few years of life record low seasonality. The mammoth was transported to the site as a partial carcass by the late-glacial proto-Saco River. It sank in a near-shore setting, was subjected to additional disarticulation and scattering of elements, and was finally buried in sediments reworked by the shallowing sea.     

First Record of Soft-shelled Turtle(Testudines,Trionychidae) from the Late Pleistocene of Heilongjiang,Northeast China

正Objective Numerous vertebrate fossils, dominated by the Mammuthus–Coelodonta fauna, have been found from many Late Pleistocene fossil sites in Heilongjiang,northeast China(Jin and Kawamura, 1996). However,fossil turtles have not yet been reported. Recently, two soft-shelled turtle(trionychid) costal plates have been discovered together with other typical Mammuthus–Coelodonta fauna fossils.     

Berriasian (Lower Cretaceous) brachiopods from the Crimea

Four successive assemblages of Berriasian brachiopods distinguished for the first time in the Crimea are correlated with concurrent subdivisions of the ammonoid scale. Berriasian brachiopods are represented by 44 species of 27 genera and 14 families, which are most complete in terms of taxonomic composition as compared to other concurrent brachiopod faunas known elsewhere. The assemblages are dominated by local species. As is proved, the Berriasian brachiopods studied are appropriate for age determination, subdivision and correlation of their host deposits. Their geographic distribution that has been analyzed elucidates connections of the Berriasian sea basins within the Mediterranean paleozoogeographic region.     

Involutions in the Middle Pleistocene (Anglian) Barham Soil, eastern England: a comparison with thermokarst involutions from arctic Canada

Involutions in the early Anglian Barham Soil at Newney Green, Essex, and Badwell Ash, Suffolk, in eastern England, are attributed to soft-sediment deformation during an episode of regional thermokarst development. The involutions show a striking resemblance in morphology and size to thermokarst involutions within a palaeo-thaw layer at Crumbling Point, western arctic Canada. By analogy with the thermokarst involutions, the involutions in the Barham Soil are reinterpreted to have formed by loading during the melting of an ice-rich layer at the top of Anglian permafrost. This period of thermokarst development may have coincided with an episode of intra-Anglian climatic amelioration. Reinterpretation of the Barham Soil involutions implies that many other Pleistocene involutions in Britain may have formed during periods of thermokarst development rather than by active-layer cryoturbation.     

The First Data on Late Pleistocene Ostracods from the Kurai Depression (Gornyi Altai)

Doklady Earth Sciences - In the sections of Late Pleistocene deposits of the Kurai Depression of Gornyi Altai studied, an ostracod assemblage, including Leucocythere sp. 1, L. sp. 2, Leucocythere...     

New remains of Nothrotheriinae (Mammalia,Xenarthra) from Late Pleistocene fluvial deposits of Northern Pampa (Santa Fe Province,Argentina)

In this contribution the record of a Nothrotheriinae (Xenarthra, Tardigrada) ground sloth is reported from the Late Pleistocene of the Northern Pampa of Santa Fe Province, Argentina. The stratigraphic unit where the fossil was collected corresponds to fluvial-palustrine sediments of the Timbúes Formation, outcropping along the Carcarañá River valley. The relative stratigraphic position of this lithostratigraphic unit, observed in several sections mainly on the Paraná River cliffs near Carcarañá River distal area, suggests that it was deposited during the Last Interglacial Stage. The specimen (MPAHND-135), assigned to Nothrotherium cf. torresi, is represented by the proximal two-thirds of a left femur that shows a prominent lesser trochanter and no connection between the third trochanter and the ectepicondyle. The presence of Nothrotherium cf. torresi in sediments related to humid conditions supports the idea that Nothrotheriinae had great ecological tolerance and was capable of inhabiting climates ranging from cold and arid, as was previously proposed, to warm and humid.     

Late Pleistocene Vertebrates and Other Fossils from Epiguruk, Northwestern Alaska

Sediments exposed at Epiguruk, a large cutbank on the Kobuk River about 170 km inland from Kotzebue Sound, record multiple episodes of glacial-age alluviation followed by interstadial downcutting and formation of paleosols. Vertebrate remains from Epiguruk include mammoth, bison, caribou, an equid, a canid, arctic ground squirrel, lemmings, and voles. Radiocarbon ages of bone validated by concordant ages of peat and wood span the interval between about 37,000 and 14,000 yr B.P. The late Pleistocene pollen record is dominated by Cyperaceae, with Artemisia, Salix, Betula, and Gramineae also generally abundant. The fossil record from Epiguruk indicates that the Kobuk River valley supported tundra vegetation with abundant riparian willows during middle and late Wisconsin time. Large herbivores were present during the height of late Wisconsin glaciation as well as during its waning stage and the preceding interstadial interval. The Kobuk River valley would have been a favorable refugium for plants, animals, and possibly humans throughout the last glaciation.     

Morphological Chronoclines among Late Pleistocene Muskrats (Ondatra zibethicus: Muridae, Rodentia) from Northern Florida

The muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus) is presumed to have undergone a rapid phyletic size decrease near the end of the Pleistocene. Evolutionary changes in the size of middle to late Wisconsinan (ca. 32,000–12,300 ¹⁴C yr B.P.) muskrats from the Aucilla River, Jefferson County, Florida, were reconstructed by examining length and width of the lower first molar (m1). Body mass, estimated from m1 length, was relatively stable from 32,000 to 16,000 ¹⁴C yr B.P. and decreased only slightly by 12,300 ¹⁴C yr B.P. If the size trend found in the Aucilla River material is characteristic of the southeastern United States, a body size decrease after 12,300 ¹⁴C yr B.P. is needed to explain the smaller size of modern populations. It was previously thought that the length/width (l/w) ratio of the muskrat m1 was a paleoenvironmental indicator based on its presumed correlation with latitude in modern populations. We examined the length and width of modern muskrats from several geographic regions and found only a very weak trend in the size of the m1 between northern and southern populations; however, highly significant differences were found between regions of similar latitude. Our data indicate that chronoclines in the m1 of the Aucilla muskrat material and other such documented trends among fossil muskrats have paleoenvironmental significance, but it is not yet clear which environmental variables can best be predicted from them.     

Dated Paleontological cave sites of Central Europe from Late Middle Pleistocene to early Upper Pleistocene (OIS 5 to OIS 8)

Caves are terrestrial depositories that preserve a large variety of organic and inorganic remains. These may contain important Quaternary climatic and ecological information. Most of the faunal remains, however, cannot be linked to any Interglacial or Glacial period exclusively. Reliable dating of such remains is therefore required. Experience has, however, shown that ESR dating of speleothems or ²³⁰Th/U dating of bones are of disputable value. Only TIMS-²³⁰Th/U dating of speleothems appears to yield reliable ages. Dating the bottom and top of speleothem layers permit assigning Pleistocene faunal remains to the OIS chronology if the deposition of the speleothems and the faunal remains are clearly correlated. Care must be taken to consider the depositional situation of each site before interpreting any age dates. In this paper we present an overview of all numerically dated paleontological cave sites in Central Europe between OIS 5 and OIS 8. A total of 25 strata were dated from 13 sites, most of them deposited during OIS 5; the rest belonging to OIS 6 and 7. Numerically dated paleontological sites older than OIS 8 are not known.     

Late Pleistocene large mammal faunas from the Urals

The 121 local faunas of large mammals from Late Pleistocene sites of the South (56–51°N), Middle (59–56°N) and North (64–59°N) Urals have been studied. All local faunas were combined into eight chronological groups on the basis of radiocarbon dates and the evolutionary level of rodents present in them. On the basis of species composition analysis of the faunas, three chronological complexes have been distinguished: Mikulino, Early–Middle Valdai and Late Valdai. The first is characterized by the presence of Hystrix vinogradovi and Ursus thibetanus; the second, by the presence of a large form of horse (Equus (E.) cf. latipes), Crocuta crocuta, Ursus spelaeus and U. savini; the third, by the presence of a small horse (E. uralensis) and absence of U. spelaeus, U. savini and C. crocuta. The latter two complexes were represented by three geographical variants: southern (South Urals), northern (North Urals) and transitional (Middle Urals). Differences between theriocomplexes are related to changes in morphology and areas and extinctions of a series of species. The existence of chronological theriocomplexes and their geographical variants was determined by chronological and geographical change in structure of paleophytocoenoses. It should be noted that the role of human in changes of chronological complexes and species extinctions in the Late Pleistocene has not been demonstrated in the Urals. In the Urals U. savini probably became extinct at the end of the Middle Valdai, C. crocuta at the beginning of the last glacial maximum (LGM), U. spelaeus at the end of the LGM, Coelodonta antiquitatis at the beginning of the Preboreal and Megaloceros giganteus at the middle of the Atlantic.     

Carbonate dikes in lava (Karadag,Crimea)

The dikes are obviously injections synchronous with their host lavas. They were produced at the floor of a marine basin where the thin sheet of lava was easily cooled and fissured on its contact with water and by seismic oscillations of the ground. reviewed by: V.P. Sokoloff.     

Late Pleistocene stratigraphy, sedimentology and paleoenvironmental evolution of the Tarija-Padcaya basin (Bolivian Andes)

We illustrate the results of geomorphological, stratigraphical and sedimentological analysis of the Tarija-Padcaya basin, a wide depression in the eastern side of the Bolivian Cordillera. The basin is well known for the rich mammal fauna discovered since the beginning of the 19th century. The sedimentary infilling belongs to the Tolomosa Formation, corresponding to a major synthem subdivided into three main sub-synthems, mostly made of fluvial and alluvial fan sediments locally weathered by paleoalfisols (Ancon Grande sub-synthem), glacial and fluvio-glacial sediments (Puente Phayo sub-synthem) and finally alluvial fan and alluvial plain sediments (San Jacinto sub-synthem). Radiocarbon dating provides a chronology for the last sub-synthem and testifies that the sequence encompasses the Last Interglacial-Glacial cycle and constitutes a good proxy record for Late Pleistocene climatic changes. The occurrence of glacial deposits in the deeper part of the sedimentary filling suggests a major ice advance during MIS 4 and, together with glacial geomorphological evidence, points to further glacial erosion during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). The importance of glacial deposition and erosion opens the question of correlation with the events reported in the nearby Altiplano, where glacial deposits have been recognized only along the slopes of the higher volcanoes. In the Altiplano the LGM has been claimed to be characterized by an absence of deposition or deep erosion, due to extreme dryness, but the Tarija record suggests an erosional event of a scale that would imply the occurrence of a large ice cap.     

Geology and mammalian fauna of the Middle Pleistocene site, Medzhybozh, Ukraine

Qualitative and quantitative faunal associations of molluscs, mammals and other vertebrates (Pisces, Amphibia, Reptilia, Aves) have been determined at a new important site at Medzhybozh, in western Ukraine. Geological and taphonomic conditions of the remains’ preservation are described. The transient (Mindelian–Rissian) fauna is identified and correlated with the Middle Pleistocene Holsteinian (Likhvin) Stage. This sequence represents a warm period of the Holsteinian, followed by with a short cooling in the middle of the period. The human cultural material (of Acheulian and Upper Palaeolithic age) has also been studied at this site. It indicates the oldest migration of humans into the region.     

Late Pleistocene stratigraphy at Boliden, northern Sweden

Till-covered sand and silt sediments with organic material from Boliden, northern Sweden, have been resampled and reinvestigated. Texture and petrographic analyses demonstrated one till bed overlying, and one underlying the sandy sediments. Low frequencies of diatoms were noted, representing freshwater, halophilous and brackish water taxa. The diatoms may be allochthonous or autochthonous, or redeposited from older deposits. Pollen analysis revealed a new picture of the composition of the vegetation, as compared with earlier investigations. The flora consisted of an arctic-subarctic treeless shrub and herb vegetation dominated by Salix, Betula nana , Gramineae and Cyperaceae. Artemisia and several arctic-alpine herbs were important elements. The identification of Salix wood as well as fruits and fruit scales of Betula nana and Betula cf. humilis is in agreement with the pollen-analytical results, as is the occurrence of Nordicboreal species of Coleoptera. Two radiocarbon datings resulted in an age of c. 45,000 B. P. and >40,000 B.P. The Boliden till-covered sediments were most probably deposited during an Early or Middle Weichselian interstadial, but the initial or final stage of an interglacial (Eemian) is also possible.     

The Late Holocene to Pleistocene tephrostratigraphic record of Lake Ohrid (Albania)

We present in this work a tephrostratigraphic record from a sediment piston core (JO 2004) from Lake Ohrid. Five tephra layers were recognised, all from explosive eruptions of southern Italy volcanoes. A multidisciplinary study was carried out, including stratigraphy, AMS ¹⁴C chronology and geochemistry. The five tephra layers were correlated with terrestrial proximal counterparts and with both marine and lacustrine tephra layers already known in the central Mediterranean area. The oldest is from Pantelleria Island (P11, 131 ka BP). Other three tephra layers are from Campanian volcanoes: X6, Campanian Ignimbrite-Y5 and SMP1-Y3 (107, 39 and 31 ka BP respectively). The youngest tephra layer corresponds to the FL eruption from Etna Volcano (3.4 ka BP). In three cases these recognitions confirm previous findings in the Balkans, while two of them were for the first time recognised in the area, with a significant enlargement of the previous assessed dispersal areas.     

Reworked marine pythonomorph (Reptilia,Squamata) remains in Late Pleistocene cave deposits in central Spain

Three sites at the Calvero de la Higuera complex (Camino Cave, Navalmaíllo Rock Shelter, and Buena Pinta Cave), near the village of Pinilla del Valle (Madrid, Spain), are known for their record of Neanderthals and other Late Pleistocene mammals. Occasionally, they also yield much more ancient reworked remains, which come from the Upper Cretaceous dolomites and carbonatic sandstones in which these caves and shelters are developed. These are mostly teeth of sharks and rays and vertebrae and teeth of bony fishes, but several reptile vertebrae and teeth have also been found. These reptile remains, which we describe here, likely belong to the pythonomorph incertae sedis Carentonosaurus cf. mineaui. This taxon is known from several outcrops in the southwest of France but is rare on the Iberian Peninsula; indeed, only a few remains possibly related to the genus have been found (in the Cabaña Formation, Asturias, Spain). The pythonomorph remains discussed here are the first fossils of marine reptiles from the Madrid region. Should the assignment to Carentonosaurus be confirmed, the teeth would provide novel data on the characteristics of this rather poorly known taxon, and might help clarify its phylogenetic relationship within Pythonomorpha.